Is machado one of the biggest trump supporters
Executive summary
María Corina Machado has publicly and repeatedly aligned herself with President Donald Trump on the Venezuela crisis—praising his actions, offering to “share” or even give him her 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, and coordinating with U.S. officials—so she is clearly a prominent Trump ally on that issue [1] [2] [3]. That said, characterizing her as “one of the biggest Trump supporters” in a broader, transnational ranking overstates what the reporting shows: her support appears highly consequential but pragmatic and focused on mutual interests around Maduro’s removal rather than uncontested personal fealty across all policy areas [4] [5].
1. Public praise and gestures: unmistakable signals of support
Machado publicly lauded Trump’s role in pressuring Nicolás Maduro and praised actions by his administration, and she notably told U.S. media she wanted Venezuelans to “share” her Nobel Peace Prize with him—comments that have been widely reported and fact-checked [1] [2] [6]. She dedicated the prize to Trump and the Venezuelan people, and several outlets documented her explicit praise of Trump as a “visionary” for his stance on Venezuela [7] [1].
2. Operational cooperation and outreach: coordination, not just rhetoric
Reporting says Machado coordinated with U.S. officials and had advisers who described contact with the Trump administration about contingency plans for a post-Maduro transition, and she publicly welcomed U.S. deployments that threatened Maduro’s hold on power [1]. The White House arranged meetings and Machado was scheduled to be received by Trump in Washington, underlining that her relationship with the administration moved beyond symbolic praise to concrete diplomatic engagement [8] [3] [9].
3. The limits of the alliance: sidelining and mutual friction
Despite Machado’s overtures, the Trump administration publicly rejected her as the immediate leader for Venezuela after the U.S. operation, with the president saying she lacked “support” or “respect” inside the country and signaling engagement with Maduro ally Delcy Rodríguez for a transitional role—actions that exposed limits and strain in the relationship [10] [7] [11]. Several outlets reported that Trump’s choice to back Rodríguez reflected strategic caution and a view that Machado might lack legitimacy on the ground [11] [5].
4. Interpretation: ideological alignment or tactical alliance?
Analysts and long-form pieces in The Atlantic and Time frame Machado’s turn toward Trump as judicious and pragmatic—she praised him while in hiding, likely to secure U.S. backing against Maduro—suggesting strategic alliance more than blanket ideological devotion [4] [12]. Other reporting notes Republicans in the U.S. advocating for Machado while Trump publicly distanced himself, underscoring that her status as a “big” Trump backer is contested even within the U.S. political ecosystem [13] [14].
5. Answering the question directly: is she one of the biggest Trump supporters?
Yes, Machado is among the most visible and consequential Venezuelan supporters of Trump’s Venezuela policy—she has praised him publicly, sought his favor with symbolic gestures like offering her Nobel, coordinated with U.S. officials, and secured meetings at the highest level [1] [2] [3]. No, she is not unambiguously “one of the biggest Trump supporters” in a universal sense across all arenas: U.S. outlets and the White House have repeatedly shown ambivalence or even resistance to elevating her as the face of a U.S.-backed Venezuelan transition, and analysts describe her outreach as partly tactical rather than simple personal devotion [10] [11] [4].
6. The political payoff and the hidden agendas
Reporting suggests competing motives: Machado’s alignment may be driven by a calculation that U.S. power can advance her political project, while Trump’s posture toward her has been shaped by domestic vanity (his own Nobel ambitions) and realpolitik concerns about legitimacy and stability—factors that explain why both sides have signaled support and distance at different moments [12] [6] [11]. That mix of personal, strategic and reputational incentives complicates a simple label of “biggest supporter.”